


Coping with Knowledge

by LairdeCyfarwydd



Category: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Genre: Gen, Jupiter Ascending Fic Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 13:50:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4837592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LairdeCyfarwydd/pseuds/LairdeCyfarwydd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jupiter is alone in what she knows about the greater universe on Earth. She's also the only one who knows about recurrences. So she creates a tribute to her older self, so that she isn't so alone anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coping with Knowledge

Life returned to normal pretty quickly for Jupiter. Her family had no memories of the ordeal they had gone through, and Caine was the only one that came to visit her from her adventure. Of course they were dating so he would obviously come to see his girlfriend, but other than that, everything was so entirely normal that Jupiter couldn’t shake off the feeling like she was missing out on something.

Jupiter’s tattoo was what bothered her the most. It dubbed her as owner of the Earth, an inheritance from Seraphi. What else, besides her appearance, did they share? She knew she wasn’t Kalique, Titus, Balem’s mother. She had no ancestral memories of living in space. But Seraphi did share her looks. She apparently shared Jupiter’s temper, according to Balem’s rat underling. What else did they share?

With some persuading from Jupiter to Caine, he finally brought her a photo of Seraphi, kept on file in Orous. It was on one of those fancy slates like the ones Jupiter had toted around to reclaim her heritage, but lucky for her it photocopied fine onto photo paper.

Seeing a clear photo of Seraphi made Jupiter realise they were nearly identical. That being said though, Seraphi had no widow’s peak in her hair and her mouth seemed more prone to smiling than Jupiter’s.

Jupiter hid the photo under her pillow. Two days later after she received some of her precious pocket money, Jupiter went to a second hand shop and spent a dollar on a battered, gold leaf photo frame. The picture of Seraphi went inside. That photo went in the bottom drawer of Jupiter’s dresser, cleared out for her side project. Eventually she managed to get her hands on some candles, smaller ones and pillar candles. Some dried flowers made their way into the drawer as well. It was no marble statue in a cathedral, surrounded by candles. But for such a tight space hidden away in Jupiter’s bedroom so her mother and aunt wouldn’t ask questions, it would have to do.

Jupiter took to spending a bit of time in her room each day, lighting the candles while the other roommates were off doing their own things. She did not pray, it was more of a tribute than a holy shrine in her mind. A hope that she may learn more about her copy someday. A wish for peace for the other woman in death.

Caine didn’t like the thought of Jupiter paying tribute to Seraphi. He wasn’t comfortable with her shrine but Jupiter didn’t press the matter. He was never with her in her room anyway. It became a sore point of discussion that never came up. They had reached an understanding. Caine understood the shrine wasn’t of reverence, and Jupiter understood that Caine didn’t want her to continue being obsessed about being someone’s recurrence.

It never became an obsession for Jupiter. For months on end, for a half hour every day, Jupiter would light the candles and spend the time reading in her room. It felt like paying tribute, but also like a habit, a place of comfort to retire to after the long day. Not that her family was unbearable, but it was too difficult sometimes for her to live with her family knowing things about the universe that they had been forced to forget. She didn’t feel so alone in her knowledge with the candles lit and on her own. In her sillier moods, she liked to pretend Seraphi visited her when they were lit.

On the night of Jupiter’s birthday, the first one she had since her adventure and meeting Caine, her family made her a beautiful dinner with a rich chocolate cake for dessert. She got a gift from her mother, and Aunt Nino, as well as Vladie who presumeably still felt bad for forcing her into harvesting her eggs. The others had all worked together on the dinner and that was their gift to her. Jupiter was thankful for it all, but this year the increased age felt more significant to her. Seraphi had lived through 90,000 years like this. Jupiter couldn’t imagine living that long but the option was available to her. She couldn’t imagine living her age for that long, on the life of others.

She retired early to her room, telling her family she was exhausted and needed to go to bed. She pulled open her bottom drawer and lit the candles, but this time she didn’t read. She just needed to remember she wasn’t insane with knowing this stuff. She had lived through another birthday despite being a recurrence on the verge of assassination when she had left earth’s atmosphere. She needed not to feel so alone tonight.

At some point, Jupiter drifted off. She was still aware in her environment however, so she knew when her mother sat at the edge of her bed, her hand on Jupiter’s cheek. Her mother never pulled displays of affection like this when Jupiter was awake, so she made sure to stay still and appreciate the moment in its natural form.

They stayed like that for a minute or so, until the weight on her bed and the hand on her cheek vanished. Her mother didn’t get up, it didn’t feel like that and Jupiter couldn’t hear movement of someone standing up. The weight was just gone. “Mom?” Jupiter called, but there was no answer. /It must have been a dream,/ Jupiter reasoned. Rolling over, she blew out the candles on Seraphi’s tribute and closed the drawer before rolling over an going back to sleep. 

Quiet settled in the bedroom as she drifted off. Her sleep was heavy, but there was only one dream. She was sitting there with herself, with Seraphi. They were in her bedroom, and Seraphi was smiling at her. 

/You may not have always approved of my actions, but I had a long life. Mistakes are common amongst our kind./ 

Seraphi smiled, and reached over to touch Jupiter on the cheek. That was the second time that Jupiter had been touched like that on her cheek that night.

/I think,/ Seraphi shook her head, and laughed silently. /I think that if I had lived long enough to meet you Jupiter, we would have been friends. At least, I hope so./

In her sleep, Jupiter smiled as the dream faded away. Maybe it had been a dream, maybe it hadn’t. She’d never know. But she would later hope—or pretend—that it was real. And that would be enough for her.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I'm aware Caine would still be around, but he's part of the Aegis again, so he wouldn't be able to spend all his time on Earth afterall.


End file.
